Fresno State Athletics
Football Faces Hawaii in Key WAC Showdown
11/9/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 9, 2007
Complete Football Release in PDF Format
Dogs in Paradise: While a trip to Hawaii in mid-November sounds nice for many, for visting football teams playing Hawai'i at Aloha Stadium has traditionally been anything but "paradise". The Dogs have only two wins at Hawai'i since 1965, but the good news for Fresno State one of those wins was on their last trip in 2005. Factor in Hawai'i is ranked higher in the national polls than it has ever been, owns a 29-9 record in WAC home games under coach June Jones, and leads the nation in scoring at just under 52 points per game, makes the trip even more difficult.
Dogs vs. Warriors on ESPN2: The Fresno State football team will have a fifth national television game in 2007 as ESPN announced this week it is adding saturday's game. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN2 beginning at 8 p.m. PT. Originally scheduled to be only televised locally in the state of Hawaii and Fresno, Calif., the matchup will be seen by a national audience through an agreement with the respective schools and conference. ESPN2 will show the matchup, utilizing the production of Fresno State's Bulldog Sports Network, across the United States except in Hawaii and Fresno. The Bulldog fans in the Valley will see the game exclusively on KFRE CW 59 (Comcast Cable channel 5). Ralph Wood and Randy Rosenbloom will call the action from Honolulu's Aloha Stadium.
Against the Warriors: The series, which began in 1938, sees Fresno State with a 20-18-1 edge. Twelve of Fresno State's wins in the series came before 1967. Since then, the Warriors have 14 wins in 23 games. More recent history has shown an even series, with each team winning seven of the last 14 games. The Dogs have won two of the last three, losing last season 68-37 in Fresno.
Memorable Bulldog-Warrior Game: Fresno State's 2005 win at Aloha Stadium, Oct. 29, 2005, was significant for a number of reasons, most notablely it was just the second win at UH for the Dogs since 1965. Fresno State's defense did a great job against Colt Brennan and the Warriors holding them to one touchdown and two field goals in a game that was televised by ABC. Wendell Mathis ran for 229 yards and three touchdowns as the Dogs rolled up 445 total yards. Fresno State picked off Brennan twice and held the Warriors to three second half points.
The Games of November: Pat Hill uses the words of former Bulldog coach Jim Sweeney to sometimes motivate his team, and one of his favorite Sweeney sayings is: "The games of November are the ones you remember." Under Hill, the Dogs have taken that to heart with an impressive 29-9 record in games played in the 11th month. The Dogs have won 21 of their last 25 November games since the 2000 season for a winning percentage of 84 percent. Fresno State closes the regular season with four consecutive November games.
Bowl Eligibility: With the win over Utah State, the Bulldogs became eligible for a postseason bowl for the eighth time in the last nine seasons. Fresno State played in seven straight bowl games from 1999-2005 before that string was snapped last season. The WAC has three bowl connections in 2007.
Saturday's Game: Of the 64 players making the trip to Hawai'i, only nine players made the trip the last time the Dogs played at Hawaii ... the Warriors are one of three teams entering today with undefeated records. Ohio State (10-0) and Kansas (9-0) are the others ... the game could be historic, as UH quarterback Colt Brennan will attempt to break the NCAA record for career touchdown passes, set by former WAC and BYU quarterback Ty Detmer ... a quarterback from one of these two teams has been selected first team All-WAC in five of the last eight seasons. Fresno State's Billy Volek (1999), David Carr (2001) and Paul Pinegar (2005) and Timmy Chang (2004) and Colt Brennan (2006) ... these two teams are tied for the WAC lead in quarterback sacks with 27 ... including tonight's game, each of the remaining games for both teams will be broadcast nationally on ESPN or ESPN2 ... the game features three of the nation's best return specialists. Fresno State's A.J. Jefferson ranks No. 2 in the NCAA in kickoff return average (36.1) while Hawaii's Ryan Mouton ranks No. 8 at 31.3. Clifton Smith of Fresno State ranks No. 11 in the NCAA in punt return average at 16.2 and he leads the WAC with two returns for touchdowns ... Hawaii has four of the WAC's top pass catchers, including the top three. The Dogs don't have anyone ranked in the Top 10 ... this game is expected to set the WAC high for single game attendance this season. Fresno State and UH are the only two schools to surpass 40,000 fans for a home game this season ... the game features two of the WAC's best linebackers in Fresno State's Marcus Riley, who ranks fourth in the WAC in tackles and UH's Soloman Elimimian, who ranks No. 2 in the WAC and seventh in the nation. Riley is fourth in the WAC in tackles for losses and second in forcing fumbles.
Rushing Point: When Fresno State's rushing offense, ranked No. 19 in the NCAA, faces off against the Hawaii rush defense, ranked No. 1 in the WAC and No. 17 in the nation, something has got to give. In the Pat Hill era, the Bulldogs have had success against the Warriors when they've had success running ball. Fresno State has never lost a game to UH when rushing for more than 200 yards.
